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Studying Church history is a perfect complement to other core high school subject areas, including literature, foreign cultures, government, and, of course, general history. This text encourages similar study of the history of the Church from apostolic times to the present, using the common tools of historical analysis and reference and the reading of primary source material that will only enhance a high school student’s portfolio of broad knowledge as he or she prepares for college entrance testing and college itself. Yet, this theology text stands apart from other subject areas too because the history in its pages is always “live history,” made so by the sustaining presence of Jesus Christ in the Church through the Holy Spirit. The students come to know that the Church is the living Body of Christ today and, as such, has always had both divine and human elements. This fact helps teachers to explain and students to comprehend how God derives goodness from all human elements of the Church’s history, including the sinfulness of her members. The new pedagogical approach of Catholic Church History—part of the entire Encountering Jesus series—has a number of distinct features. Contemporary news stories that connect recent events in the Church and the world to a particular period in history, lead to chapter focus questions that students will be responsible to remember and answer both through the chapter, to the end of the course, and beyond. Several different applications, assignments, and projects offered in a variety of learning styles allow the teacher to gauge a student’s ability to retain and apply knowledge. This elective—written in accordance to Option B: History of the Catholic Church from the USCCB Curriculum Framework—is one that can supplement catechesis on the Church that students were introduced to in an earlier course. The historical nature of this course lends itself to a wide array of informative infographics and photo essays as well as challenging student assignments. For example, each chapter suggests three assignments meant to be completed over the approximate two-week duration the chapter material is being studied. Research reports, surveys, video presentations, debates, and various art forms are some of the formats and media that make up these chapter assignments. Finally, teach, re-teach, and teach again. This approach—encouraged throughout the Encountering Jesus series—is necessary in a course with a fast-moving and wide scope of content that follows this sequence: · Sanctity and Redemption: Understanding Salvation History as the Time of Christ · The Church’s Divine Origin · The Gospel Spreads Despite Persecution · The Era of the Church Fathers · The Formation of Christendom · The Church in the Midst of Renaissance and the Age of Exploration · The Council of Trent and Catholic Reformation · The Church in the Era of Enlightenment · The Development of Catholic Social Teaching · The Twentieth Century and the Epoch of the Second Vatican Council · The Church in the Twenty-First Century and Beyond Profiles of faithful Catholic disciples and an apologetic question (with answer)—both also including follow-up assignments—are part of every chapter. Prayer suggestions drawn from the periods of historical study offer students opportunities to make an ongoing, reflective commitment to Jesus and his Church. Catholic Church History is a complete source to share with Catholic high school students the nature and meaning, images, marks, life and ministry, moral life, and role of prayer as they are developed and presented through each era of the two thousand year old Church.